Situation Report Dadaab Refugee Camps

1 – 12 February 2012

External Version

Highlights

• Strike of G4S guards in Dadaab and in the camps concluded.

• The security situation is calm but the threat environment remains complex.

• The first 1,000 persons were relocated from Dagahaley outskirts to Ifo 2.

• UNHCR Somalia delegation visited Dadaab & formed a Task Force on cross-border movements.

• Successful election of refugee youth leaders and new youth groups in Kambioos strengthen youth participation.

Updates

Security: On Monday, 6 February, the 4-day long strike of G4S guards working at the compound in Dadaab, as well as in the camps, has been concluded. The Management of G4S arrived to Dadaab and grievances regarding salary and working conditions were addressed and measures were put in place to prevent such an incident from being repeated in the future. For critical sites in the camps like the hospitals, community members were mobilized to guard. Population & Registration: As of 12 February, the overall population in the Dadaab camps stood at 463,023 persons.

0-4 5 - 17 18 - 59 60 + All Ages Location

F M F M F M F M F M Total

Dagahaley 10187 10313 16930 17873 7851 8867 26057 21296 61025 58349 123656

Hagadera 10520 11180 15889 16528 8411 10211 31324 29458 66144 67377 138515

Ifo 9412 9491 14323 15089 7292 8490 27316 26167 58343 59237 122295

Ifo 2 East 2958 3022 4517 4990 1502 1966 5383 3906 14360 13884 29161

Ifo 2 West 3714 3990 5619 6149 1790 2304 7086 5197 18209 17640 37036

Kambioos 1197 1280 1950 2298 652 878 2181 1582 5980 6038 12360

Total 37,988 39,276 59,228 62,927 27,498 32,716 99,347 87,606 224,061 222,525 463,023

The registration of new arrival is still under suspension but there are positive indications by the Department of Refugee Affairs (DRA) that the process may resume soon. Continuous registration, such as the registration of birth and death cases, is ongoing. Moreover, budget planning started in the light of the planned verification exercise. The new Registration Officer reported to Dadaab this week and will look into the details.

Cross border movements: From 8 – 10 February, a delegation from UNHCR Somalia visited Dadaab in order to form a Task Force consisting of UNHCR Somalia and UNHCR Dadaab Protection, Security, Field and Programme Staff. The aim of the Task Force is to look at cross border dynamics, possible scenarios of cross border movements and linked contingency planning, and to strengthen data and information sharing on movements.

Service Delivery & Operations Continuity Plan: In the light of the Operations Continuity Plan (OCP), activities and service delivery is increasing in the camps. UNHCR Field, Protection and Technical Unit teams have conducted regular monitoring visits in all the camps (several days per week). There is a need to be present and to implement activities, while at the same time, it is underlined that activities have to be re-defined and adapted, based on the Operations Continuity Plan. The last Operations Continuity Plenary Meeting took place on 9 February. Two new OCP working groups were introduced: The Working Group on Infrastructure/Site Planning as well as on Community Communication and Involvement.

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Relocation of refugee families from Dagahaley Outskirts to Ifo 2: On 6 February, the relocation of refugees from the outskirts of Dagahaley to Ifo 2 re-started. As of Friday, 10 February, a total of 1,002 individuals (245 families) were relocated and allocated with plots/family tents in Ifo 2 East. Throughout the exercise, Protection/Community Services staff join the field teams to assure that protection issues are well monitored and followed up. The refugee families in Ifo 2 are now provided with security, health, water and sanitation facilities in their new settlement camp. However, in spite of all the awareness campaigns that were conducted in Dagahaley, the response has been low. Therefore, go-and-see visits will be organized to Ifo 2 to build confidence. The relocation exercise will continue until the remaining estimated population of 4,500 refugees still residing on the outskirts in Dagahaley camp are moved.

Picture: Families leaving Dagahaley outskirts, photo taken on 11 February. Community Communication: The newly established SMS system was launched with the first messages being sent out to around 300 key focal persons in the camps. FilmAid continues to add contacts to the data base and plan an awareness campaign of the system in the camps. In addition, the team will conduct random follow up calls to assess whether the messages were transferred and how the community reacted. The radio station StarFM has aired key messages four times a day for the last three weeks.

Youth: The empowerment of youth and the strengthening of youth leadership structures is another key area. On 11 February, the new Dagahaley youth leaders got elected, which was successfully organized by the refugee youth electoral committee. The new Youth Chair Lady is of Sudanese origin which is remarkable, given that the Sudanese community is extremely small in Dagahaley. In Kambioos, the two youth groups that are involved in Informal Education (private schools in makeshift tents), hygiene promotion and livelihood projects such as kiosks, asked for a youth center to coordinate their activities. A meeting in Dadaab was also held to discuss the future outlook of the existing ICT (Internet and Youth Centers) and discussions started on providing more Internet platforms for the youth but also linking the centers to education activities (training, e-learning and screening of educational films), and livelihood activities. One very good example is the ICT Center in Hagadera, where the youth in conjunction with the Computer Society of Kenya organized an IT training and the examinations for 28 candidates took place successfully on 3 February.

Education: Training for 60 refugee teachers, which includes child centered approaches, classroom management, use of learning materials, and psychosocial support, has started. 21 students including minority children have received scholarships to continue their secondary education at national public schools in Kenya. In addition, the distribution of school furniture donated by JICA is underway and the contractors have started assembling the desks and at the same time distributing to the schools. The first desks are already in use in Kambioos (see picture). Text books, solar lamps and LEGO donated by IKEA Foundation have arrived and distribution to schools and child friendly spaces.

Persons with Special Needs: The Community Emergency Response Team from Dagahaley and Ifo, a community structure, assisted with the distribution of food and clothing items to 1,000 families comprising of the elderly, women at risk, and minority groups.

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Water coverage in different camps

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For further details please contact:

Bettina Schulte Associate External Relations Officer UNHCR Sub Office Dadaab Tel.: +254 720 095 990 Email: schulte@unhcr.org Twitter: @BETTIUNHCR

Webportal on Somali Displacement: http://data.unhcr.org/horn-of-africa/regional.php

WASH

During the reporting period, water quantity was sufficient for the refugees In Ifo, Ifo 2 East, and Kambioos while water supply in Ifo 2 West, Dagahaley and Hagadera felt below required quantity of 20 l/c/d. Thus, efforts are being exerted to attain the required indicator for minimum water consumption at all the camps.

Health Progress is being made in health service provision in Kambioos with International Medical Corps (IMC) being on the ground with qualified staff every day. On 8 February, Kenyan Red Cross Society started supplementary feeding in Ifo 2. Furthermore, measles outbreak continues with 11 cases reported. With the support of CDC, blood samples

will be collected from suspected cases for laboratory confirmation. Promotion of vaccination of all infants at nine months needs to continue as well as intensified defaulter tracing of measles vaccination at community level. All new arrivals up to 30 years should be vaccinated.

Shelter and Infrastructure: Interlocking Stabilised Soil Blocks (ISSB) block production and machine operation training is in progress at the YEP Center (Vocational Training Center run by Norwegian Refugee Council) in Dadaab town. Each week, 30 participants that are partly from the agencies, the host community, and refugees are being trained. The training will continue until the end of February.

Child Protection: UNHCR Protection and partners will conduct training for community workers and incentive staff across sectors on Protection, including GBV, and child protection by the end of February. A meeting took place to explore ways of developing materials for children on child rights and child protection. Ten key messages on child protection targeting parents and caretakers are ready to be disseminated through the SMS system. Gender Based Violence: On 6 February, several events to mark the International day against FGM were organized, including road shows, neighborhood forums, and focus group discussions. Key messages focused on the Islamic perspective of female circumcision and negative effects of FGM. In Kambioos, two new women’s groups in the camp got established aiming to develop livelihood activities for mothers in Kambioos (see picture).